IT WAS A YEAR AGO TODAY...RIGHT AROUND THIS TIME...THAT WE FIRST STARTED TO SEE THE DEVASTATION EVEN A WEAK HURRICANE COULD CAUSE. FLOOD WATERS ROSE MORE THAN A DOZEN FEET IN BRAITHWAITE DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF AUGUST TWENTY-NINTH -- DESTROYING HOMES ...AND TAKING LIVES. TODAY BRAITHWAITE IS MUCH DIFFERENT -- WITH ONLY A FEW FAMILIES MOVING BACK TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD. WDSU NEWS REPORTER BLAKE HANSON WAS THERE LAST YEAR AS THE FIRST RESCUES HAPPENED...AND HE'S RETURNED NOW TO REPORT ON HOW THE AREA IS RECOVERING. BLAKE -- YOU COULD DESCRIBE PARTS AS A "GHOST TOWN" NOW ... MANY PEOPLE WERE HAPPY JUST TO GET OUT OF THIS NEIGHBORHOOD ALIVE. BUT NOW THE BRAITHWAITE PARK NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW...HAS SEVERAL OF LOTS LIKE THIS. FULL OF OVERGROWN GRASS. AND ITS A SIGN THAT WHILE THE WATER IS LONG GONE...IT'S NOW THE THREAT OF THE WATER THAT'S STOPPING MANY FROM COMING BACK. nats cicada TAKE A TURN DOWN PARK BOULEVARD. ON THIS DAY...EVEN THE WIND CHIMES DON'T MAKE A SOUND. I don't get back here too often FOR JESSE SHAFFER...A TRIP BACK TO HIS HOME ... that's where the water as at right there IS A REMINDER OF WHAT BRAITHWAITE HAS BECOME. it is a ghost town, you know, if we don't get the levees...this place is dead ISAAC PUT BRAITHWAITE IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT. AND SHAFFER AND HIS SON WERE THE FACE OF WHAT HAPPENED HERE. THE TWO HELPED RESCUE MORE THAN A 100 PEOPLE FROM THE TOP FLOORS OF THEIR HOMES. BUT BRAITHWAITE IS ALSO THE PLACE WHERE TWO PEOPLE DIED. we had water here for three or four weeks EVEN AFTER THE WATER RECEDED...OF THE 75 HOMES IN THE BRAITHWAITE PARK NEIGHBORHOOD...SHAFFER KNOWS OF ONLY ONE READY TO MOVE BACK. AND MANY OTHERS... DON'T PLAN TO. i'm a pretty strong person but when you want to be back somewhere and you can't, its just hard FOR BOBBY LANDRY...THE LAST YEAR HAS BEEN A DIFFERENT STORY. the right side of the door was actually right here HE SAYS HE WAITED FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ...THEN PARISH GOVERNMENT TO BULLDOZE HIS FLOODED HOME. AND FED UP WAITING... DID IT HIMSELF. the orange indicates where the house is going to be at NOW HE'S STAKED OUT THE SIGHT OF HIS FUTURE HOUSE. it's an empty spot because we don't have the house built, in your heart emotionally you need to get the house built for it to be normal, I think then that it will all go away BUT WHETHER ITS HIKED UP FLOOD POLICY. OR THE LACK OF A LEVEE THAT DETERS PEOPLE. THOSE WHO REMEMBER BRAITHWAITE...MIS S MOST THE PEOPLE WHO MADE IT HOME. what's the biggest thing you miss? Camaraderie with your friends, being with your friends and doing with your friends. People don't realize how much you cherish these people RESIDENTS HERE COMPLAIN THE GOVERNMENT HAS NOT DONE ENOUGH TO MAKE THIS AREA LIVEABLE. WE'LL TELL YOU WHY THEY'RE TAKING ISSUE...AND WHAT THE TIMELINE IS FOR BETTER FLOOD PROTECTION IN THIS AREA. THAT PART OF THE STORY IN OUR NEXT HALF HOUR. LIVE ON YOUR SIDE IN BRAITHWAITE, BLAKE HANSON, WDSU NEWS. HAPPENING TODAY -- BOARD MEMBERS FROM BOTH SIDES OF